Choice, choices … how can you be sure you made the right one? While nobody should be making decisions for you, Uniform ES reports can help you make an informed decision in one place where it really counts — your home.

A UES report simplifies the difficult task of verifying which products have been recommended for code approval. Only the local code official can actually approve anything, but IAPMO’s Uniform Evaluation Service is a trusted provider of independent third party product reviews.

As consumers, we expect everything we touch to be certified to a standard. From the cars we drive to the food we eat, everything is tested and retested and then marked as compliant before we can purchase it. The same mentality applies to the building of our homes, businesses and schools. Someone is looking out for our well being.

A typical house has more than 1,000 different types of building products in it. These products range from things as seemingly simple as wood, nails and metal framing connectors to electrical plugs, heating/air conditioning units and garage door openers. Just about every one of these components has a standard that has been agreed upon by industry and regulators that designates the size, composition, performance and how that one product has to work together within the system that is called a home, school or place of work.

Uniform Evaluation Reports alerts the person from your building and safety jurisdiction that the products being installed in your home have been tested and evaluated to the rules/laws that regulate building construction. If you ever walk down the aisles of a lumber yard or a home improvement retailer, you see these little symbols on the products or packaging that are similar to what you see on your appliances, but these marks cover the things that are embedded inside your walls. The typical consumer household appliances are only designed to last for a few years; the infrastructure hidden under/behind/within your floors, walls and roof are designed with a much longer lifespan in mind.

There is a misconception that the government keeps track of “certifying” building products. In reality, it is a collaboration of government, manufacturers and independent third-party evaluators that confirm that the correct questions have been asked and answered by the manufacturer. We as consumers assume the products meet the building product standards, but Uniform Evaluation Reports provide a detailed assessment of a product’s compliance.

Uniform Evaluation Reports provide consistency in product certification. Homebuilders, tradespeople and building owners all want consistency in the products used in construction. You have heard that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link; the same applies to a building, as all the products must be uniformly constructed to work.

Uniform Evaluation Reports ask the right tough questions of manufacturers. It is a global marketplace, so whether the products are manufactured domestically or overseas all products must be tested and verified to meet the standards.

Uniform Evaluation Reports provide tools for the building inspector, so he can approve your construction with confidence. We work with the building professionals because what you don’t see is just as important at what you can see when it comes to building and system interaction.

You want experts evaluating the specific products used in the building to ask the manufacturer the right questions and make sure they have the right answers for compliance.